Recently sworn-in Romanian interior minister resigns on lack of resources from the budget

Romania\'s Interior Minister Liviu Dragnea, part of the ruling leftist Social Democrat Party (PSD), announced this evening he would leave the office because the resources allocated for this ministry from the state budget were too scarce to allow him to fulfill his objectives.

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But according to political sources cited by NewsIn, Dragnea resigned from the Interior Ministry (MAI) due to a delay in naming the head of the General Direction of Information and Internal Protection (DGIPI) within the ministry and a governmental secretary, which the two political parties of the country's ruling coalition, leftist PSD and centrist Democrat Liberal Party (PD-L), failed to agree upon.

PSD leader Mircea Geoana declared on national television that Dragnea's decision grieved him, but that he did not believe that the disputes over these key MAI positions were the reason for his resignation.

Social-democrat spokesperson Bogdan Niculescu Duvaz stressed that Dragnea's resignation had not stem from any political pressures, but it had been an unilateral act.

Dragnea was sworn-in on January 21 and announced among his priorities the administrative and financial decentralization, as a part of a deep administrative reform.

Dragnea, who took the helm from the deputy premier Dan Nica, an interim on the position, followed Gabriel Oprea to the lead of the institution.

Oprea resigned amid allegations of naming a controversial character head of the General Direction of Information and Internal Protection within the ministry. Oprea was excluded from PSD after he lost support as party leaders criticized the decision he took without their approval.

Dragnea was installed at the ministry after an impressive ceremony attended by a numerous participants. However, President Traian Basescu did not show up as planned.

The deputy head of the Anticorruption Department Ionel Georgescu was later proposed by PSD to be the leader of DGIPI. The top position at DGIPI is vacant after Virgil Ardelean decided to leave the office only a few days after being proposed for the post. He was appointed by the former Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea without the PSD's approval.